Joint Statement by Congressman Al Green (TX-09), Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18)

Statement

"The people have suffered long enough. The people of Texas in general, and Harris County more specifically, have suffered long enough. It has been more than four years since Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston and Harris County. If GLO spends one cent under its current bogus plan, there should be administrative proceedings or justice department judicial enforcement against GLO (State of Texas) for discrimination against the residents of Houston, Texas based upon its current bogus plan with a sham distribution formula that has a disproportionate impact on communities of color. The bogus plan gives higher scores to the percentage of residents benefiting as opposed to the number of residents benefiting. In effect, a small city with all its residents benefiting (a few hundred residents) could receive a better, higher score (score of 10) than a large city with half of its residents benefiting (many thousands and a score of five). In the final analysis, a small city will get funded and the large city will not get properly funded. It must also be noted that minorities tend to live in the larger urban areas. Hence, by discriminating against a larger urban area, GLO is discriminating against minority residents. GLO should use a per capita-based formula not a percentage-based formula."